LF_121219

30 | December 12, 2019 | The lake forest leader SPORTS
LakeForestLeaderDaily.com
Posted to LakeForestLeaderDaily.com 3 days ago
Matthews shines for Scouts despite loss to Fenwick
Bill McLean
Freelance Reporter
Don Matthews tried. He
really did.
The father of Scouts
goaltender Sarah Matthews
— a Highland Park
sophomore — did he all
he could, years ago, to
convince his daughter to
stick with a skater’s role
in the sport she loved.
“When she was 10, she
played for a team that relied
on volunteers to play
goalie,” Don recalled during
the first period of the
Scouts’ 3-0 loss to reigning
Amateur Hockey Association-Illinois
(AHAI)
state champion Fenwick
on Sunday, Dec. 8, at Lake
Forest College. “Sarah
volunteered before one
game. Then she played
goalie in another game.
“I did my best to dissuade
her from playing
that position,” the former
Deerfield youth hockey
player added with a grin.
Sarah Matthews dug in,
grew to thrive in goal, and
now a couple of teams —
the co-op Scouts and the
AA Chicago Jets of the
Northern Illinois Hockey
League (NIHL) — are
grateful for her resolve.
Sarah’s father, today?
Proud.
“What I did notice, from
the beginning, was how
comfortable she appeared
in games as a goalie,” Don
said. “She played fearlessly.”
Fearless Sarah showed
up again against Fenwick,
stopping 40 shots in a loss
that would have been a
12-0 setback, at least, versus
an above-average netminder.
Matthews parried
shots with her stick, with
her pads, with her glove
and with her helmet.
She didn’t just stand on
her head against the Friars.
The 5-foot-7 Scout
stood out. Period.
Fenwick (9-1-1) settled
for one goal in the first
period. Most of the action
in the 13-minute session
took place right in front
of Matthews, who wears
jersey No. 50 because
her favorite professional
goalie, Corey Crawford of
the Chicago Blackhawks,
does.
The action was frenzied
at times, but Matthews
stymied Fenwick’s feisty,
fast forwards again and
again.
“Sarah plays with a
great mindset against
great players,” said Scouts
forward Abby Benjamin, a
blur on blades.
“What I like about her,”
Scouts forward and Lake
Forest senior Kennedy
Stein said, “is her positivity.
Sarah’s always positive.”
The loss left the Scouts
with a 5-8 record. Yet firstyear
coach Katy Shadek, a
former St. Olaf College
forward and current LFC
student, sounded like a
winner afterward.
“I thought our girls
played very well,” she
said. “They were impressive.
They held their own.
The goals Sarah allowed
tonight … the first two
slipped in, and the third
deflected off a stick. She
played great. Sarah’s play
this season is one of our
team’s strengths.
“Many of our girls are
coming out of their shells
and playing more comfortably
with the puck.
And they’re playing as a
team.”
Stein will suit up and
lace ’em up for a team in
hockey-mad Minnesota
Hannah Ziperstein makes a play on the puck in the Scouts’ 3-0 loss to Fenwick on Sunday, Dec. 8, at Lake Forest
College. Photos by Phil Bach/22nd Century Media
next year. The Scouts’
leading scorer (13 goals)
and breathless talent committed
to Division III
Augsburg University in
Minneapolis last month.
“I visited the school
twice,” said Stein, competing
once again at an
all-state level. “I like the
coaches and their coaching
philosophy, and I’m
looking forward to the experience.”
Back to the Fenwick-
Scouts contest. Benjamin
nearly scored on a rapid
rush in the second period.
Twenty-three seconds
later, forward Lucy Heller
(HPHS junior) delivered a
pretty pass to forward Alicia
Sharun, but Fenwick’s
defense disrupted the
promising scoring chance.
Fenwick struck for a
pair of goals in the third
period, the last tally coming
at the 1:47 mark.
Kennedy Stein looks ahead with the puck.
Fenwick had survived a
Scouts 5-on-3 advantage.
“We showed our strong
work ethic tonight,” said
Matthews, who at the age
of 11 met the two-time
Stanley Cup champion
Crawford and received an
autographed picture and
puck from him at an event
in Lincolnshire.
The Scouts next play
Evanston on Friday, Dec.
13, before taking their
holiday break.